Chartreuse
by Thorn In Your Side
Summary: Suigetsu, apparently, was a genius. Who knew?


**Chartreuse**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!  
A/N: Juugo's so cute~**

**x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x**

The conversation centered around demons tonight.

They weren't sure how they'd veered from discussing dinner prospects to inner demons, but whatever. They knew it was a dangerous topic—Juugo sat silent, mostly—but at least Suigetsu had gone for a walk and was thus unavailable for insensitive comments.

Sasuke, normally somber and taciturn, was engaged in an animated discussion with Karin about fighting one's demons.

"Life is a fight," he insisted, "We constantly struggle against temptation—and it's not _**us **_being tempted, its our demons. You have to fight them all your life to do what's right."

"You're one to talk about what's right," Karin retorted, "Life isn't a _**fight. **_Sure, sometimes it sucks, but there's no point to a life where you live to fight and fight to live—"

"And there's a point to a life where all that matters is your self satisfaction?"

"Hear me out, don't interrupt," she said, "You need to take responsibility for your own actions. You wouldn't let Itachi go free if he fell to his knees and said, _oh, little brother, I've been so foolish, but I was just too weak to fight my demons!_ would you?"

Sasuke looked up at the sky. "What's that? Oh, right, that's the point flying over your head." He looked back at her. "I'm not talking about side-stepping responsibility. Of course I wouldn't let him go like that. Someone so weak that they can't even stand up to himself is as good as dead."

"So a woman who gives in to temptation and cheats on her partner deserves to die?"

"That's not as grave a sin as murder."

"So now we're judging the magnitude of sins?"

Sasuke tutted in irritation, stirring the fire as he found the words. "No, we're not. It just leads into a theological arena. But we're talking about inner demons as a means to separate our rational thinking side from the side that wants to kill every nuisance along our path."

"Like Suigetsu," Karin grinned, "He gives himself over to his demons on a daily basis."

"He _**is **_a demon."

"Suigetsu's not a demon," Juugo said miserably, "I am."

""Don't be stupid, Juugo," Karin said lightly, passing him a toasted apple, "You have a demon in you, it's just way stronger than our urges."

"But Sasuke said—"

"Exactly," the brunet waved him quiet, "I was just _**saying, **_Juugo. You're not weak at all. The way you resist your urges—its enough to kill a lesser man."

"Speak of the devil," Karin laughed as Suigetsu walked into camp. His fair hair gleamed in the firelight and he sunk into a sitting position next to Sasuke. "Talking about me, huh? Don't you losers have anything better to do?"

Sasuke let him cozy up against his shoulder before speaking. "Karin and I were talking about demons and lesser men. Juugo thinks he is one."

"A demon?" the water ninja asked.

"Yeah."

"Don't go around calling yourself that Juugo, people are gonna think you're looking for attention."

Karin threw an apple at him, and it bounced off his head. "Don't try to be funny, kappa."

"I'm not trying to be _**funny,**_" Suigetsu said, aggrieved. He impaled the apple on a twig and thrust it into the fire. "Personally, I think fighting your demons is a waste of time. You should just live in harmony with them."

Sasuke snorted in disbelief. "This coming from the man who wanted to kill the dango vendor for running out of cinnamon."

"What good is dango without cinnamon, I ask you!?"

Karin stared at Suigetsu as though he'd grown a second penis. "Jackass…that's _**genius.**_"

"Of course it is. What's genius, again?"

Sasuke gave the redhead an odd look. "What, Karin?"

The girl scrambled over to Juugo, who looked startled at her sudden proximity to him. "Juugo," she said, "Have you ever tried _**talking **_to…to that part of you?"

"I…what?"

Sasuke's mind lumbered along in the wake of Karin's thought train. He let Suigetsu drop to the ground ("Hey, ow!") and joined his teammate at Juugo's knee. "Juugo," he said urgently, "That part of you that likes to kill…have you ever tried talking to it?"

Juugo thought for a moment, and shook his head.

"Try it," Karin and Sasuke said immediately. Suigetsu sat up and gnawed on his apple, sulking. "Does no on care that I'm injured?" he asked loudly. Karin threw another apple at him for his troubles. "If that's how you treat a genius these days," he sniffed, and poked it into the fire as well.

Juugo looked at his teammates' eager faces and nodded. He closed his eyes and called out to the part of him he'd always put his efforts into ignoring. An unbearable presence rose up in him, the insatiable urge to maim pounding through his veins. The curse seal crackled and popped, but then Sasuke's hand brushed his, and the wakening thing beat a hasty retreat.

"Not yet," Karin's voice cut through, "Don't stop him until the last possible moment, Sasuke. He needs to be half and half to talk to himself."

"He needs to be half crazy to talk to himself."

"Sui, shut up!"

Juugo coaxed the presence our again, like calling to a wary cat.

_Here kitty, kitty, kitty…_

**Who the hell are you calling **_**kitty?**_

_Um, evil me?_

**Evil? Why—you little punk!**

**  
**_What do I call you?_

**My name is Juugo.**

_But __**my **__name is Juugo!_

**Then I'll call you Juu.**

_But—_

**Shut up, Juu, and tell me what you want. **

_Um, I'm not sure. Can you hold on while I ask?_

He opened his eyes. "He wants to know what I want," he told Sasuke and Karin.

"Get the cheeseburger meal deal."

"Suigetsu!"

"Yeah, okay, I'll shut up."

"Tell him you want to talk," Karin said, "That you want to come to an agreement about both of your urges.

Juugo blinked and closed his eyes.

_Evil—um, Juugo?_

**I'm right here, Juu. It's not like I'm going anywhere.**

_Uh, yeah. About that, and the whole murder fetish thing, do you think we can talk about it?_

**Murder fetish? Murder fetish? The hell are you talking about, do you even know what that word **_**means. **_**I don't get my kicks off killing people, moron. It's their blood that's really cool to watch, and I don't mean…**_**sexually.**_

_…So you don't wanna kill people?_

**I don't mind doing it.**

_But, say if I promised you could um, maul a bunch of people every now and then, without killing them—would you stop constantly trying to take me over?_

**I don't follow. **

_Well, my friends were thinking, it'd be nice for us to get along, you know? Come to an agreement. Seeing as how we're sharing a body and all. What if I let you get into huge bar brawls, like, once a week, and the rest of the time you don't kill people? I mean, because it's only the blood you want. _

**…Doesn't sound half bad. Would I still get to charge in fights? **

_Yeah, totally. But you might have to listen to whatever Sasuke says, though._

**Listen, Juu…**

_Yeah?_

**I said listen! Why you interrupting me, man? …I get bored in here, Juu. Plain and simple. I **_**never **_**get to see the world, that's why I'm always trying to take over. If you want me to roll with you on this, you gotta let me out more, you gotta talk to me more. I wanna meet your friends. I want them to be my friends too. I want a **_**life **_**as more than your dark side.**

_I…I'm so sorry! I didn't realize how hard it must be in here for you—_

**Are you giving me flak?**

_…What?_

**Never mind, you're actually that sickeningly sweet. Continue. **

_I agree! Completely! I'll talk to you a lot more, I'll spend more time in here, everything! –wow. I always wondered what it'd be like to get inside my own head, guess I'll find out now, huh? _

**Done, so this is cool?**

_Um, just one condition, though? Can __**you **__be Juu out there? I mean, 'cause they already know me as Juugo—_

**Done and done. So tell your friends what's going on, and then let me out!**

Juugo opened his eyes again. Sasuke and Karin were watching him with bated breath, and Suigetsu was watching the stars in bored lethargy.

"I made a deal with him," Juugo said happily, and told them what it was. Sasuke whirled on Suigetsu. "You _**are **_a genius!"

Suigetsu seemed alarmed, and then smug. "Hey, yeah? Yeah, I know. How about a kiss for the genius?"

Karin turned her back on them and watched as Juugo's other half came out. The curse seal fizzled, and spread over his body like a live tattoo. The boy's deep, warm eyes drew dull, distant—and then they focused again, pupils tiny slits of shrewdness.

"Yo," he said in a voice slightly deeper and raspier than Juugo's, "I'm Juu."  
**x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x**

**I had so much fun writing that debate. :D **


End file.
